The revelations comes, as they do so often these days, via a blog, in this case the Windows Phone Blog, and not through traditional press channels.

Anyway, there are two bits of information here. The 8107 update and then the discontinuation of the Where’s My Phone Update? site. Here's what Microsoft communicated, with a lot of added commentary.

Windows Phone update 8107

"This week we started to make a new Windows Phone update —8107—available to many Windows Phone customers," Eric Hautala wrote in the blog post. "The update, available to all carriers that request it, is part of our ongoing maintenance of Windows Phone. For more details on what’s included, check out Update History on the Windows Phone website."

All carriers that request it. That's a bit ominous, given that some carriers have shown major reluctance to delivering updates to their customers. And when you look over the list of what's fixed in this update, you sort of get the idea that this update should be made available to all Windows Phone users, not just the ones lucky enough to be using a forward-leaning carrier. Hm.

"In the months ahead, we'll continue to send out firmware and maintenance updates as needed," he adds. "These will be available across the globe—although not everybody will receive or require them. It depends on your country, carrier, and phone model. But remember that you’ll never have to guess when a Windows Phone update is waiting: Just watch for the pop up notification on your device."

I have to think this is a veiled reference to the release (or releases) that some have called Tango. While it's unclear what Tango is, or if it really exists, the consensus seems to be that it is related to lower-end phones in new and emerging markets. That is, it's not something aimed at mainstream Windows Phone customers in first-tier markets like the US and western Europe. This may explain why I've never come across the word "Tango" in any of the internal Windows Phone documentation I've viewed--all of which is related to the US only.

Where's the Where's My Phone Update site? (think about that for a second before sending in a typo fix)

"As we continue our growth, we won’t be individually detailing country, model, and carrier details on the Where's My Phone Update? site any longer," Hautala continues. "And instead of my weekly blog posts, the official Windows Phone website will be the primary place for news and information about our updates, just as Microsoft Answers is there for your support questions."

Ugh.

Reading between the lines, I'd argue that this site is all the more necessary when Windows Phone grows, not less, and that the real reason this is changing is that something else has changed behind the scenes. Bear with me for a moment, because this is pure speculation. But it goes something like this:

Last year, Microsoft got into a lot of hot water when its "NoDo" update, the first software update the company delivered to the platform, was completed but then never delivered to users. Over time, it emerged that a combination of factors were preventing the release: First, Microsoft's wireless carrier partners were blocking the update, a situation which other bloggers incorrectly reported was impossible, and that Microsoft later conceded was the case. Second, Microsoft's hardware maker partners, notably Samsung, had quietly and secretly released multiple versions of their devices, some of which actually broke the updating mechanism. (A certain version of the Samsung Focus will likely never be truly fixed in this regard, even though I've been told the issue is related to a single software certificate.)

Making its partners look bad was not, is not, part of the plan. In fact, Microsoft has never once fingered Samsung or any other hardware company, nor has it dinged AT&T, its "premier" Windows Phone partner, for being among the worst in deploying the NoDo update.

After months of bad vibes, Microsoft said it fixed this issue and then it surprised onlookers by delivering a major Windows Phone update, version 7.5 or "Mango" to virtually all customers in just over a month. This is a feat Android is incapable of, and given its past performance Microsoft was justifiable pleased with its performance. So too where Windows Phone users and fans. (Same group, really.) Mission accomplished.

Or was it? In the wake of that success, former Microsoft executive Charlie Kindel wrote that Windows Phone was struggling in the market because the software giant alienated its hardware and wireless carrier partners by locking down the platform too much and not allowing them to modify the phones as much as, say, Android licensees can do. In other words, by doing the right thing for customers, Microsoft had done the wrong thing for its partners.

So here's what I'm thinking. Microsoft agreed to stop publishing its "Where's My Phone Update?" because it makes its partners look bad, even though the site is obviously valuable for customers. They have taken a small step to reverse the relationship to appease partners on the cusp of year in which Microsoft and its hardware partners will spend several hundred million dollars promoting Windows Phone around the world. About $200 million in the US alone, in just the first half of the year. They're spending $130 million marketing just on one phone, the Nokia Ace.

Discuss this Article 12

I think this is going to end bad for MS, like you said Windows Phone users and fans. (Same group, really.)will try to take the update process in their hands and we will endup in the same situation of NODO where there where phone that couldn't be updated any further or this is just the beggining of some windows phone being left behind. I guess we will see only time will tell

Microsoft really made a bad move here. I get that they need to keep the carriers and hardware manufacturers cooperative, but by only giving updates to carriers that request it, it's going to suck as much as Windows Mobile did (which was arguably worse than Android). I love the Where's My Phone Update site, and at the first hint of an update, I'd eagerly watch that website until it said delivering on AT&T. This is a mistake. Fragmentation will ensue.
Only thing to do for customers is to install the update yourself, which voids the warranty, could brick your phone, and is complicated. Guess that's what I'll be doing today. Freaking ridiculous.
My one shred of hope is that they make SOME updates only available to carriers that request it, and MAJOR ones required. So for things like this that don't even get a codename, they're not required, but for Tango and Apollo, carriers will have to push out updates. Sine Windows Phone updates are cumulative, this could fix this problem...We'd just have to wait longer to get updates. And I'm not sure that 1st generation Windows Phones will even be getting Apollo.

Microsoft really made a bad move here. I get that they need to keep the carriers and hardware manufacturers cooperative, but by only giving updates to carriers that request it, it's going to suck as much as Windows Mobile did (which was arguably worse than Android). I love the Where's My Phone Update site, and at the first hint of an update, I'd eagerly watch that website until it said delivering on AT&T. This is a mistake. Fragmentation will ensue.
Only thing to do for customers is to install the update yourself, which voids the warranty, could brick your phone, and is complicated. Guess that's what I'll be doing today. Freaking ridiculous.
My one shred of hope is that they make SOME updates only available to carriers that request it, and MAJOR ones required. So for things like this that don't even get a codename, they're not required, but for Tango and Apollo, carriers will have to push out updates. Sine Windows Phone updates are cumulative, this could fix this problem...We'd just have to wait longer to get updates. And I'm not sure that 1st generation Windows Phones will even be getting Apollo.

Paul, do you think that the reason could be that MS and its HW partners are about to push a huge number of low cost phones and the carriers who would carry those devices don't want to bear the cost of maintaining those devices with the absolute latest version? These lower cost devices for the most part will be disposable devices and I'm sure those carriers who traditionally serve this market are a little gunshy to deal with the cost of maintenance and perception of failure to maintain those devices. I like you(probably), think that the updates for all devices should come from MS, but logistically and technologically the carriers have to be involved. I think that the best we can hope for is that the "tier 1" devices will get all of the upgrades in a timely fashion and that the cheap devices get all of the Major upgrades. What do you think?

I personally feel like I have been burned. Here I am trusting this company to give me updates and they go and turn it over to the carriers...again. One of the reasons I left Android was because of the updates. Now Windows Phone is doing the same thing? This blows.

I personally feel like I have been burned. Here I am trusting this company to give me updates and they go and turn it over to the carriers...again. One of the reasons I left Android was because of the updates. Now Windows Phone is doing the same thing? This blows.

I think you're misinterpreting what's happening. They're not going to stop providing updates. They're going to stop calling out the carriers that are delaying those updates. Software updates are still happening. It's just that some will be country/local/phone model specific. If you don't need those, you won't get them.

Drewidian is the only commenter actually making any sense - Paul I think you are partly right with your interpretation of the site withdrawal but you could look at it another way - Microsoft agreed to stop publishing its "Where's My Phone Update?" because it is an inappropriate tool to disseminate the update information for the Windows Phone operating system with the launch of new devices, new Manufacturers and new carriers in new countries. The site provides no information with regard to applicability and as WP applications grow and diversify the site would cause a huge support headache and vastly increased support traffic, not to mention negative postings on sites such as this and many others.
Microsoft has done a pretty decent job of pulling WP6.5 out of the wilderness. We have to trust them to deliver as they have been for the last year and a half.
Chris.

So what I read from this is that Microsoft is leaving it up to carriers to implement a security fix (Revokes digital certificates from DigiCert Sdn Bhd to address an encryption issue.). Might not be bad, but carriers only ever update if it makes them look bad. They just want you to upgrade to the latest phone and contract and not support going back. I've been on WP7 for just on 6 months after iPhone 3/4 for past 3 years. I tell you I will be going back the next iPhone as phones like Nokia 800 etc aren't ahead of the curve they are just close to it and if not getting new features during my contract no way I'm staying. How many iOS updates came out last year, felt like 4 or 5.

Paul, of COURSE Microsoft is continuing to provide updates. But it's like making a cake that nobody wants. The carriers are obstructionist. They are NOT the customer, WE are. It is a fallacy to say "we care about the users" and "we're providing updates" when there is a HUGE obstacle in between them and us. If Microsoft kicks out updates and carriers can't be counted on to actually install them, THERE ARE NO UPDATES. It's just WM was. Just like Slutdroid. Microsoft has simply advertised that they are a slave to the carriers. Many suspected it before. What they've done is confirmed it. I'm convinced more than ever that carriers need to be completely removed from the equation. Completely. They serve no useful purpose other than a comm link.

Why not set it up in such a way that it works like Windows Update. I don't have to go to Dell or HP to get updates for Windows on my PC. Why should I have to go to AT&T, Verizon, HTC, Samsung or any place other than Microsoft to get updates for my Windows Phone. I understand the wanting to get carrier support to get more phones to market but are they giving to much control to the carriers? I think so.

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